Dear madame President

Open letter to Madame President von der Leyen

Dear Madame President,

I have a lot of questions concerning the war in Ukraine. I don't see how I can ask you all this questions in a direct way so I write to you with this open letter. I feel that being critical about the war in Ukraine and our involvement in it is not something what politicians and media respect in these days, but I hope you will still respect my concerns.  

So I hope this letter reach you in some way and hopefully you will react to it because I see and hear that a lot of people have concerns. Not all the same concerns like the questions what will follow, everybody has obviously his own concerns, but maybe it will be a beginning for a clearer communication between the EU and its citizens. 

So here are my concerns.

Conditions to become a member of the EU.

On 8th April 2022 you overhanded president Zelensky of Ukraine a questionnaire that was the basis for becoming an EU-member candidate. On the 23rd of June 2022 the European Council granted the Ukraine already the status of a candidate for accession to the EU. Unexpected I must say because in March there were still a lot of EU-members (Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, and so on) who were not convinced that Ukraine should or could become an EU-member state. 

Hesitant   Supportive
Source: Euractiv

I can't imagine so many countries changed their mind so quickly just out of free will. Negotiations seem to perform miracles. As you know there are sitting 705 people in the European Parliament representing the people of 27 member states. The task of representation of the EU citizens in the parliament cannot be taken lightly and is also very important to the outside world as we introduce ourselves to the world as an example of a free democratic union. 

An investigation from last April show that only 30% of the people questioned totally agree that Ukraine should join the EU under the condition "If they are ready" but 529 members of the parliament supported the candidacy. So are all these people certain that the citizens in their country agree with the fact that Ukraine can become a member state? 

So are all these people in the European Parliament representing their country in a correct way? Wouldn't it be better to organize referenda in each country before the parliament decides that a new member country could be accepted? It would be the correct democratic way, wouldn't it?

Is bigger always better?

The last decades the EU grew fast from 12 member states in the times that the Sovjet Union fell apart until 27 member states at this moment. But growth is not always a guarantee for success as you will know. 

With all this growth problem arose. Poland and Hungary, sanctioned by the EU because they are failing to uphold the rule of law in their country. Something what can't be taken lightly is it? By the way, strange enough on the 9th April "Stand up for Ukraine" is organized in Poland and it looks like that the sanctions for Poland suddenly disappeared.

Eastern Europa countries have another culture than in the west, and Ukraine is with certainty very different from western Europe. Following the last results of the "Corruption Perceptions Index" (made by Transparency International) Ukraine is the most corrupt country of Europe next to Russia. You all know that in parliament don't you? So are you all that sure in the parliament that Ukraine will fit in our Union? Do you all really think that corruption will disappear there like a whirlwind?

I agree, 30% think that Ukraine should become a member of the EU when the Ukraine is ready, what means when they fulfill all the demands of the EU. I hope that demand will stay. But even when all corruption, among other things, disappeared, only 30% of the European citizens are fully convinced of the membership. So how could you all decide that Ukraine can be a member state in the future if so many citizens of the EU are not convinced? 

Belarus.

With Ukraine it started in 2014 when European leaders went to Maidan to help overthrow a pro Russian government. It was the start of actively mingle in the leadership of a country that was not an EU-member. And look where we stand now.

So the question is what we gonna do with other countries where protests against a government arise. What we gonna do with Belarus once the protests against their government will increase. Are we gonna intervene there the same way as we did with Ukraine? And with what purpose? Just to become a bigger union? And as we nog going to intervene in other countries the question is why we did with Ukraine?

What is the most important for the EU leadership?

It was Dimitry Medvedev, who wrote the following on Twitter on 22nd February 2022 after Germany issued an order to halt the process of certifying the Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines: "Welcome to the brave new world where Europeans are very soon going to pay 2.000 euro for 1.000 cubic meters of natural gas". And the prices for not only gas are skyrocketing. Food prices are rising like crazy. Inflation go trough the roof. So if Medvedev knew, all Russia knew and also we knew, didn't we?

If I'm correct the aims of the European Union are in first place to protect the well-being "of its citizens" and also to protect their safety and security and their values. Concerning the reaction of the EU to the invasion of Ukraine the following question must be asked. What is for the EU the most important. The citizens of the countries of the EU or the citizens of countries who are not a member of the EU? Is the expansion of the EU more important than our well-being, security and safety? 

I know, there is always the reaction of politicians and even NATO that the EU must protect itself against Russia. Do you really are convinced that Russia one day will invade the EU knowing that Russia will have to fight NATO, including the United States? Isn't that a little unreal?

The way of practicing politics in the EU.

I really get afraid of the way some politicians are practicing politics. If I see sometimes politicians as Guy Verhofstadt, member of the European Parlement, Olaf Scholz, chancellor of Germany and others speaking in parliament or other places it reminds me of political leaders from the past. 

Discussions in a parliament and talking at events should be done in a way that it informs the public. Inform and explain the citizens about what they intend to do or explain what they are doing or did. But I see a lot of these leaders speaking in a way where they promote themselves and their ideas as the only correct way to behave and think. People who think differently are wrong, they are not a democratic correct person. What follows is that people get scared to openly disagree. 

In a democratic union it is practicing politics in a wrong way, isn't it? Democratic chosen leaders should listen to the people and explain why some things are possible or why they are not. People who think differently should be listened to. 

So, the way some of them are talking and behaving looks more and more like a propaganda rally. And I'm afraid of that way of doing politics. Aren't you?

Demonicing a population.

Recently political leaders and members of EU-parliament start to say that people with Russian nationality should be refused in the EU. Even Finland, a candidate for the EU by the way, and president Zelensky of Ukraine himself announcing and defending this idea.

I think you know the Harry Potter books and movies. Who doesn't? In that story they refer to a very bad person as "He who must not be named". In the recent history of Europe we had a leader like that, and I will not mention his name. It is a reality in our history where we should be forever ashamed of. But it should also be a reminder of what never should happen again. 

"He who must not be named" and his followers were responsible for terrible things. I don't have to tell you that, I'm sure. It started with winning popularity from the people at rally's by pointing the guilty finger to a, may I say, ethical group of people as the reason for all their misery and ended whit killing more than six million of them. People can be inhuman, aren't they?

I know it is very sensitive to talk about. A lot of people will automatically react that making a comparison of that period of time with today is horrible and not done. But at least I hope that you will understand my worries. The way that catastrophe started should be a warning for all of us, for all times, that demonizing a group of people can lead to terrible things.

So when I see political leaders in our European Union with leaders from the EU-candidates and even the leader of the country we so eager defend propose to refuse people with Russian nationality I get scared. Very scared. We should realize that this can lead in the future to terrible things, to a terrible behavior of a population against people, in this case, just because they are Russian.

I really ask myself how you look at this. You find this normal? Is the EU gonna react against this behavior of these leaders? Or does the EU agree with this proposal? 

Poverty in the European Union.

In the European Union are living approximately 450 million people as you will know. As you also will know approximately 100 million of them are living at risk of poverty. Momentarily the EU must have spent some 20 billion euro's on loans and grants for the Ukraine. That is some 200 euro per person living in risk of poverty in the EU.

I don't understand why we spend money on a country what is not even a member of the EU and even wasn't a candidate while at the same time so many people have a difficult life in our union. We could have helped them with all that money. For a family of four it means 800 euro. In times of rising energy prices and all other vital things getting more and more expensive it would mean a big help for this people.

I know. You will say that the EU helps these people too, but it stays what is. It stays 20 billion euro spent on a country what is not a member of the EU for a war. A war where everybody is killing each other. It stays 20 billion what we could have used for our own people living in poverty. 

So my question is why we don't help our own people more? In these times all this people can use every help they can get.

Effect on our economy.

Raw materials, natural resources. Everything is getting more and more expensive and as long the war is going on nobody can stop it. And not only people suffering in these circumstances, also our economy is getting into trouble. Businesses are closing departments because it is too expensive to keep manufacturing and because of that people are losing their jobs. So poverty will rise in the European Union.

Didn't you all realize that this was gonna happen?  And if you did realize this I don't understand why you all went on with mingling in this war., knowing what problems it's gonna cause. Are people in the EU not important enough? 

Thanks you for taking this walk with me.

So Madame president, as you could read I have a lot of questions and I think I am not the only one. Should the EU not explain all these things to it's civilians? Should the EU not start to put the importance of its own people in first place?

I'm awaiting your answer.

A civilian of the European Union.